


To keep the goddess on my side (she demands a sacrifice)

by Daughter_of_the_TARDIS



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alien Culture, Aliens Made Them Do It, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Space Wives, This will either end with sex or death I haven't decided yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-02-28 14:13:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18758053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daughter_of_the_TARDIS/pseuds/Daughter_of_the_TARDIS
Summary: Her wife was sat in front of her, wearing a crown and an incredibly revealing dress.The Doctor groaned, even as a wide smile spread across her face.  “No way.”  she said, pulling all of their attention to her.  “Someone's got to be messin’ with me.  Is this space reality TV?”





	1. Chapter 1

They were stuck - that was really the only word for it. The TARDIS had landed on a new planet, her lights dimming the second they materialized, only to turn on again brighter than before. After that, she refused to take off again, humming angrily every time the Doctor would try and pilot the ship away. The Doctor was beneath the console, trying to fix the problem, but so far nothing was working. She had tried every lever and switch on the console, tried stroking the crystals, and she had even tried begging the ship. None of it did any good.

“We've been here for hours.” Ryan said, sounding irritated. His head fell back against the crystal that he was leaning on with a loud thunk, making the others wince. “Can't we leave yet? We can't even go out an’ explore the planet.”

But the Doctor just shook her head. “Nope.” She said, lifting the front of her welding mask so that she could look at her friends properly.

“Why not?” Yaz asked, feeling as bored as Ryan looked. While she didn't mind the occasional break from running for her life, there was something about knowing that they couldn't go anywhere that made doing nothing much less fun than it would be otherwise.

“The TARDIS is refusin’ to go anywhere.” The Doctor said, fiddling with the controls for a moment longer before giving up on them. She huffed, sticking her tongue out at the console before turning to face her friends. “It's strange, really - she hasn't done anythin’ like this in centuries.”

“When was the last time she did?” Yaz asked, her mind already racing, trying to come up with all the reasons that the ship would just stop like that. If she tried to solve this puzzle like it was one of her police cases, maybe a solution would come to her, she reasoned.

The blonde hesitated for a moment, before the hum of the TARDIS made her relax slightly. “A little planet called Darillium.” She said, sounding like the words were being forced out of her. She refused to look any of her friends in the eye, keeping them firmly glued on whatever she was trying to fix on the console. “Beautiful place - there were towers that could sing.”

“Singing towers?” Graham asked, looking incredulous. “Seriously?”

The Doctor nodded, flipping her welding helmet back down over her face. “They were famous for em.” she said, turning on her blowtorch. They waited until she was done to start up their questions again.

“How long were you stuck there?” Yaz asked. Despite how uncomfortable her friend looked, her curiosity got the better of her. That curiosity was what made her a good police officer, and her gut was telling her that that curiosity would come in handy once more. “When the TARDIS wouldn't move.”

“I wasn’t.” her voice was so quiet they had to strain to hear every word.

The humans looked at each other for a moment, confused. “Wasn’t what?” Ryan asked her.

“Stuck.” she said, finally making eye contact with them all. There was a bit of a sheepish look on her face, like she wanted to be telling them everything but at the same time wanted to keep everything close to her chest. “I chose to stay there - spent twenty-four years there, at least.”

“You mean you don’t know how long you were there?” Ryan asked, looking rightly confused. If there was anything that they had learned in their time with the Doctor, it was that she had an uncanny ability to tell time. Down to the last millidecasecond, as she had proven to them time and time again.

“Well, we stretched it out to last as long as it could.” she said, keeping her eyes focused on what she was doing. Her voice was so quiet that they could barely make out what she said next. “I would have kept that night going on forever, if I could.”

“Who's we?” Graham asked, noticing how the Time Lord phrased her answer. He already had half an idea just from the nostalgic look in her eyes, but refused to say anything in case he was wrong - or in case he was stepping into painful memories for the woman. That seemed to be the end of the questions that the Doctor could handle, however.

“If we're gonna be stuck here for awhile, we might as well have a look around.” She said, bouncing to her feet and making her way over to the doors, spinning around to face them all so that her coat flared out around her.

“You mean we could have gone outside this whole time?” Ryan asked, sounding exasperated as he followed the Doctor to the door. 

"Of course we could've, Ryan." She replied, opening the door and herding them all outside. The TARDIS gave an excited hum as they walked outside, as if wishing them well. "But you said that you didn't want to see anywhere except Sheffield, remember?"

He did vaguely remember saying something like that the night before after they had spent the previous day on a different planet, being chased by lava snakes. However, he wasn't going to be the one to argue semantics with the alien.

Yas was the one to bring up the question on all of their minds. "Okay, so if we aren't in Sheffield, where are we?" She asked, looking around them. The trees were covered in golden leaves, the nearby plants having the same unearthly shimmed to them. The ground beneath their feet was almost worryingly soft, and a shade of green so dark it was almost purple. 

"Excellent question - five points to Yaz." The Doctor bent over, ignoring the disgusted looks on her friends faces as she pulled a few leaves off of a plant and popped them into her mouth. A small grin crossed her face as she realized where they were. "We're on the planet Surus." She announced, starting to walk backwards away from the TARDIS and doing her tour guide act that made both Ryan and Yaz giggle. Graham was always too busy worrying that she was going to trip and break something - it was really a miracle that she hadn't already broken something - to be amused by it. "One sun, three moons, and an obsession with both - to the point where theres an entire religious system based after them."

With her tour guide shpiel completed, the Doctor turned so she was facing the right way once more. "Come on, fam! Let's get a shift on."


	2. Chapter 2

They only made it a few miles before being stopped by guards. They hadn't even noticed the soldiers at first, their uniforms matching the tall grass that they were hidden in almost perfectly. They moved almost silently, quickly surrounding Team TARDIS before they made their move.

They came out of the shadows as one entity, each of them armed and ready to kill. “Halt!” one of them demanded, the crystals braided into their hair denoting them as the leader. 

"Hello!" The Doctor said, spinning around so that she was face-to-face with the over eager soldier that was poking her in the back with their spear. "Just us - I'm the Doctor, and these are my friends. Would you mind gettin' those spears out of our faces, please?” she asked, already pushing the offending object out of her way. They did as she asked almost without even realizing it, and she gave them a gentle smile. “That’s better. Now then, why are you comin’ after me an’ my friends? We haven’t even done anythin’ wrong yet!”

"Not that we were planning on doing anything wrong." Graham interjected, hoping to appear as reassuring as possible. But his reassurances fell on deaf ears. The guards expressions hardened and they moved just a little bit closer.

“You have been found trespassing in the Sacred Gardens of the Moon.” the captain of the guard said, grabbing the Doctor by her arm. Three other guards stepped forward, grabbing the rest of them as well. "The Lady of the Sun will pass judgement on you all. May she have mercy on your souls."

8888

They walked on, with the travellers occasionally trying to escape and failing every time. The scenery became more and more elaborate as they made their way closer to their destination, going from empty fields to actual towns, and finally becoming a city. A large temple rose up as they moved closer, almost towering over everything else nearby. Elegant crystal spires held up the structure, and as they passed by them they could see the symbols etched into the sides - images of two women walking side by side, never truly touching. There were mosaics on the floors - some done in silver and others in gold - always of two women, their faces obscured.

Team TARDIS was forced to their knees once they reached the main room of the temple - a large receiving room with two thrones stood side-by-side at the front. Just like everything else in the temple, the thrones were a duality - one in silver and one in gold. "What's going on?" Yasmin hissed, looking over at the Doctor. The blonde woman was taking in everything in the room, her mind moving in a million directions at once as she tried to figure out what was going on.

"I'm not quite sure." She admitted, keeping her voice low. "Something's not right here, I just can't quite put my finger on it."

"All hail the goddess of the Sun.” one of the guards announced, and a woman draped in gold came out from the wings, a regal look on her face as she made her way to her throne. Servants trailed behind her, holding the train of her skirt. Golden curls flowed down her back, and her dress shone like the cosmos themselves. A golden crown sat on her head, the fabric of her dress strategically draped to cover what needed to be covered and not much else. The humans looked away, slightly embarrassed by the woman's state of undress.

The Doctor groaned, trying to will her blush away even as a wide smile spread across her face. “No way.” she said, pulling all of their attention to her. “Someone's got to be messin’ with me. Is this space reality TV?”

“Silence.” one of the soldiers commanded, but the Doctor just shook her head, an apologetic expression on her face. The woman on the throne was smiling, leaning forward in her seat slightly to catch every moment of what was happening. Graham could have sworn that she looked familiar, he just couldn’t place where he knew the woman from. 

“Yeah, that's not gonna work.” she said, pushing the spear back out of her face. “Sorry - I've always been talkative.” 

“Isn't that the truth.” The woman on the throne muttered under her breath, earning herself strange looks from Ryan, Yas, and Graham. She stood up, and everyone in the room immediately turned in her direction, her subjects falling on bended knee.

“Everyone out - your goddess commands it.” the woman’s voice echoed around the room, and her subjects listened obediently, filing out of the room. All except for one of her advisors - a tall man in a large hat that the Doctor’s eleventh self would have been fawning over. Of course, she didn’t pay too much attention to the hat - she was too busy fawning over the woman currently standing in front of the throne.

“My lady,” he began, and while his tone was reverent, the look in his eyes said something else entirely. They were cold and calculating - like he knew that what he was about to say wouldn’t be received well, and was planning on how to say it and still keep his head. “Is it wise to meet with strangers? We don’t know anything about them.”

The woman looked thoroughly unimpressed with the man’s concerns. “That’s what makes them strangers.” she said slowly, grinning slightly when the man turned red.

“Well yes, but -”

“Are you questioning me?” she asked, her eyes glinting dangerously and a threat evident in her voice. Team TARDIS turned to look at the Doctor, all of them wondering how she would react to the implied violence - normally she would have already been storming into the middle of things. None of them were expecting what they got, which was an absolutely besotted look on the Doctor’s face. “I can more than handle myself, as I’m sure you remember.”

The man bowed his head, looking nervous. “Yes of course.” he deferred, paling at the reminder.

“Good. Now get out.” she commanded, a feral smile crossing her face. That look only grew when he rushed out of the room. As soon as the man was gone, the woman turned to look at the time-travelers. She got up from her throne, the gold on her body clinking merrily with every move she made.

“Hello, sweetie.” The woman said, walking over to the small table set up near her throne. She picked up one of the bottles off of the table and offered it up, picking a glass with her free hand. “Drink?”

“I'll take one, if you don't mind.” Graham said hesitantly. The woman nodded in encouragement, happily pouring him a glass.

“Anyone else?” she asked, looking at them all expectantly. “That’s human, I mean - we all know that she doesn’t hold her liquor well.” the woman rolled her eyes, but the fond smile on her face betrayed any fake irritation.

“Sorry, but… who exactly are you?” Yaz asked, speaking for all three of them.

“Good to know you’re still telling people about me.” the woman said, arching an eyebrow at the Doctor. To their shock, the other woman actually blushed.

“I was going to tell them.” she mumbled, and the woman rolled her eyes again, walking down to meet them.

“Of course you were, sweetie.” the woman said, sliding her arm around the Doctor’s waist and grinning at the other woman’s blush. “Nice to meet you all - I’m Professor River Song. The Doctor’s wife.”


	3. Chapter 3

The humans stared at the alien couple for a minute as they tried to wrap their heads around what they had been told. "You're the Doctor's wife?"

"You don't seem surprised that she's married." River pointed out, raising an eyebrow at the trio. "Normally there's more spluttering involved."

Ryan shrugged. "Honestly, it's really not the craziest thing we've seen." He admitted. "Just didn't expect her wife to look like you."

"Oh I like this one." River said, taking another sip of her wine while the Doctor scrunched her face up. The Time Lady looked up at her wife, her confusion written on her face.

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean?"

River kissed her cheek, tucking a bit of blonde hair behind her ear. "Don't worry sweetie - I think you're very pretty." She reassured.

"Yes, well," The Doctor preened for a moment, a faint blush forming on her cheeks. She couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that she was actually holding her wife again - something that she thought she would never get to do again. It was an incredible rush to get to do so, and she didn’t think that she would ever be able to get enough of the feeling.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Yaz said awkwardly, “but what exactly are you doing here?”

“Isn’t it obvious, dear?” River asked, cocking an eyebrow at the copper. She moved over to her throne, pulling the Doctor along with her and settling the other woman in her lap once she sat down. Only then did she look at Yasmin and the others, mischief dancing in her eyes. “I'm ruling a planet."

"You can't just take over a planet because you feel like it, River!" The Doctor said, turning on her wife. Her companions looked worried, but they couldn't see the fond exasperation in the Time Lady's eyes. No matter how many centuries they were married, or how many faces the Doctor went through, she would still have that same look in her eyes every time that River did something impossible. 

It was nice to know that there were some universal constants, River mused.

But the woman just shrugged, a smug smile on her face as she took a sip of her wine. "I believe that's exactly what I did." She said, her smirk growing wider when the Doctor just spluttered in response. 

"Of course, I didn't mean to." River admitted. "It just sort of… happened." She shrugged. There was a tinge to her voice that meant that more had happened then she was letting on.

"What happened?" The Doctor asked, her tone switching from aggravated to worried in a heartsbeat. "Are you alright?"

"Crash-landed here - my Vortex Manipulator went on the fritz. Been stuck here for months." River shrugged, as if to say 'what can you do'. "How about you all? How exactly did you end up here?"

The humans all looked at the Doctor, and she shied away from their piercing looks. “I promised the gang a tour of the ruins, and then a trip to the candyfloss planet… and then everything went quite badly wrong, actually.” the Doctor admitted, and River smirked.

She gave her wife an innocent look. “Doesn’t it always?”

"Oi, rude." The Doctor said, without any actual heat in her voice.

"You love it." River replied. The Doctor's blush was all the answer she needed.

Ryan interrupted the pair before they could get any further with their flirting. "When are we?"

"Where are we?" Yaz added, looking around them.

But the Doctor interrupted them both. "Hang on - if you're queen of this planet, does that make me a queen too?” the Doctor asked, looking up at her wife. They had sprawled out on the floor at the foot of her throne, taking advantage of there being no one else around. Ryan, Graham, and Yaz took up the steps below them, all of them watching the cuddling time travelers with something undefinable in their eyes.

“It makes you the leader of my harem.” River quipped, smirking as she looked the Doctor over. The blonde felt a warm familiar swooping sensation in the pit of her stomach, and she couldn't help but grin. It had been a long time - decades - since her wife had looked at her with that sort of promise in her eyes.

“So why are you here, River?” the Doctor asked, sitting up properly to look at her wife. “We're here because the TARDIS wouldn't leave. But what are you doin' here?"

Her friends look interested at the turn in the conversation. "I got stuck here, and the locals saw me land in a fiery crash." River said, looking slightly awkward. "Now they think I'm their sun goddess, and are waiting for my counterpart to arrive so they can release us both."

"Counterpart?" Graham asked, but the Doctor was more focused in on the rest of what her wife said.

"What d'you mean, release you?" She asked suspiciously. "Release how?". She knew that that was the right question to ask when River wouldn't meet her eyes. 

"To release the spirits of the goddesses," River said, delivering the information with all the dryness of an archeological text, "the Suruians burn them."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I've been so bad about updating this, everyone - the last few months have been crazy. I started my new job being self-employed, my girlfriend left, and lots of other shenanigans have happened. But I brought you all a chapter to try and make up for it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on Tumblr at riversongandsweetie!


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